Historic pews full again

By Kath Gannaway
THE pews were full again as people from near and far converged to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the tiny Powelltown Union Church.
The church, built with voluntary labour and timber donated by the Victorian Hardwood Company, opened its doors in 1927.
Items such as pews, chairs, the communion table, collection plates and a bible were donated by members of the community.
In the early 1930s the church served Congregational, Presbyterian, Anglican and Methodist parishioners.
Pastor George Buchanan, who grew up in Powelltown in the 1950s and ’60s, said the church had a strong, positive influence on a lot of people.
“The fact that the church was there meant there was an influence in the town that helped through hard times, including the Depression and then the war years,” he said.
He said the Christian Crusaders (an evangelist group of which he was a member) had a big influence on the young people of the area in the ’50s and ’60s.
Other speakers included former minister the Reverend Graham Bradbeer, Ron Pearce of the Christian Crusaders, Bob Adams, who went on to establish Fusion, a Christian movement which has spread to many parts of the world, Millie Rickards, who attended the first Sunday School, and Eddy Pye, a founding member of the God Squad.
A large number of descendants of John and Chris Ingram, the first managers of the Powelltown Mill, returned for the day and the privilege of cutting the anniversary cake was given to an Ingram family member, 93-year-old Mary Green.
Although the building is no longer used for church services its doors open from time to time for weddings, funerals and the annual Christmas Carols Service, which last year was attended by 60 people.
Dorothy Cooper, one of the trustees, along with Nola Adams and Gill Brody, who are working to keep the church safe and sound, said the celebration, which concluded with lunch in the local hall, had been a great success.
“There was a general feeling that Powelltown had made a big impact on their lives and all agreed it was a most memorable day,” Mrs Cooper said.